Four Past Midnight, Part III: Secret Window, Secret Garden

“You stole my story,” says John Shooter to the main character Mort Rainey in the beginning of this story. It is also what Stephen should have been saying to the filmmakers who adapted it for the 2004 release. Granted, the film does have its moments, and Johnny Depp does make a pretty convincing Mort Rainey. While it was an entertaining yet somehow hollow 96 minutes, the story was much better. The movie seemed almost lighthearted and playful, while the story has a much darker and more foreboding feel to it.

Stephen’s language to describe the anguish, depression and boredom of Mort’s life is more believable than Johnny posing for the camera in his bathrobe. Sorry Johnny, but stick to Tim Burton films, please. You are good, but good enough for King? Try back later, maybe after you’re officially done with Pirates.

Here's a clip from the movie version of Stephen King's The Langoliers.

Four Past Midnight, Part II, The Langoliers

This story is one of my favorites out of this book, and for Stephen, it came the easiest of the four. A chapter summary is beneath each of the chapter headings in this one, much the same as it was in his novella, “The Mist”, because, according to King, each one had an “apocalyptic feel”.

This story reminded me of something right out of the Twilight Zone. Stephen takes an everyday, almost painfully boring scenario, and gives it a horrific, yet almost comedic twist. The scenario here is air travel and, having just been on a long flight from Utah to Florida and back, it doesn’t seem ideal for any type of story.

The story starts off by introducing the pilot of a most peculiar flight that is about to board. The pilot is Captain Brian Engle who flies the American Pride L1011. He has just flown a nasty flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles, and he is exhausted. The only thing on his mind is a nice, warm bed, but that is when he gets news that his ex-wife has died. The divorce had been a long time in coming for Brian and Anne, but her death still effects him emotionally and physically.

Things really start to get weird and out of hand on American Pride’s Flight 29, when Brian, a blind girl named Dinah Bellman, Albert “Ace” Kaussner (who is one of my favorites), Laurel Stevenson and others wake up to find everyone in the plane missing.

It turns out that the characters that have woken up have made a terrifying journey into the past, and it is up to Captain Engle and the others to find a way back. If they do not find a way back soon, the langoliers, or the shady and evil Mr. Toomy will ruin their lives for good.

Now just what are the langoliers you may be asking? They are strange creatures from another dimension that eat time so that these sorts of things do not happen. If you have ever played Pac-man, think of millions of these guys, only bigger, eating at the fabric of time, and you will have a pretty good idea about what they are.

This is an interesting concept, and it gives new meaning to the term “killing time”. Ha, ha, but seriously, time is something that we all want to control, but never seem to be able to do, and Steve gives his readers one reason why this may be true. This story, like all the rest in the book, is phenomenal, and is a great way to pass the time on a flight. Just hope that the same thing does not happen to you.

The Stephen King game

Here's a creepy and funny idea for a game that's fun for the whole family. It is called the "Stephen King game".


http://kenyonreview.org/blog/?p=7992

Check it out

Go to this site to find out Stephen King's 7 tips on becoming a better writer.
http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2007/10/08/stephen-kings-top-7-tips-for-becoming-a-better-writer/

Four Past Midnight, Part I

Stephen King's book, Four Past Midnight, published in 1990, deals with time and how we as humans perceive it. This is a theme that he has dealt with in other books such as "It", and short stories like "My Pretty Pony", found in his book "Nightmares and Dreamscapes".

In his introduction, Stephen relates a story to the reader about watching the Boston Red Sox play the Milwaukee Brewers and seeing Robin Yount of the Brewers step up to the plate. Yount started in 1974, right out of high school, which was the same time that King published his first novel, "Carrie".

To the commentators of the game, 1974 seemed like a long time ago, but to Steve, it did not. He related this story to show that the perception of how time passes is a highly individual thing, and it is a recurrent theme in all of the four stories found in this book.

Literary Boogeymen

     The Subject of this blog is going to be American authors of horror. I got the title from a remark that author Stephen King made in his book, "Four Past Midnight", when he refers to himself as "America's literary boogeyman".

     Along with King, there are several other "literary boogeymen" that I hope to talk about on this blog. Authors like Clive Barker, Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub and Dean Koontz have made a large impact on me and I hope to share some of my insights and opinions on their works with you, the reader.